JOHN Prescott has waded into Labour’s civil war by lashing out at Tony Blair and others over the party’s increasingly bitter leadership contest.

The former deputy prime minister threw a string of verbal punches amid rising panic in the party at Left-winger Jeremy Corbyn’s surprisingly strong showing.

He is on the ballot paper with Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall because of nominations by fellow MPs who do not back him but said he should take part to ensure a full debate about the party’s future.

Lord Prescott hit out after his former boss Mr Blair said anyone whose heart told them to vote for Mr Corbyn should “get a transplant”.

Lord Prescott told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I found that absolutely staggering. To use that kind of language is just abuse. The Labour Party is about the heart as well as the head.

To suggest that somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable

Lord Prescott

“To suggest that somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable.”

The peer denied it would be a “disaster” if Mr Corbyn won, although he did not think he would be successful. Lord Prescott blamed Mr Blair’s Iraq invasion for damaging Labour support and accused Mr Burnham and Ms Cooper of not setting out strong enough policy positions.

He also hit out at former Blair adviser John McTernan for dubbing MPs “morons” for helping Mr Corbyn into the election. Former health secretary Alan Milburn echoed Mr Blair’s warning against lurching to the Left, saying it would consign Labour to opposition “not for five or 10 years but for very many years to come”.

He added: “If the Labour Party really does have a death wish that’s where it will go.

“If it wants to be alive and kicking and to be a real contestant for power in 2020, it needs to elect a leader and adopt an approach that puts it firmly in the centre ground of British politics.”

Former minister Frank Field insisted he did not regret nominating Mr Corbyn to “widen the debate” while not wanting him to win.

The problem, Mr Field said, was that the other candidates had “not responded in the way I hoped they would in taking the argument to him about whether he is or is not a deficit denier”.

Ms Kendall’s allies said her rivals betrayed their own woes by urging her to step down, which she would never do. “You never stop fighting for what you believe in,” the Shadow Care Minister told BBC News.

Front-runner Mr Burnham was seen by only 27 per cent of voters in a new opinion poll as having “what it takes to be a good prime minister” while the same number did not think he had the right qualities.

Ms Cooper was seen as prime ministerial by 22 per cent of all those questioned by Ipsos MORI while 34 per cent did not think she was.

Mr Corbyn was seen as a potentially good PM by 17 per cent with 36 per cent disagreeing, while 16 per cent could see Ms Kendall doing a good job and 30 per cent could not.